Shopping Craze
by JPMod
Summary: It's fun times as the TUY gang hit the shopping malls after Thanksgiving!  Story 10 of the 'Kim Possible: The University Years' series.


In response to feedback regarding "Holiday Gatherings":

jasminevr – Thanks! (big grin)

Big thanks to all who read "Holiday Gatherings". :-)

Once again, great big thanks again goes to Spitfire F.22 for beta reading for me. Thanks! (big grin)

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Disclaimer: All Kim Possible characters are the copyright of Walt Disney Corporation. I'm just  
borrowing them to write up a story with no intention of making any money. This is for fun. All other characters in my stories, that Disney doesn't own, are mine. :)

A/N: I don't know about elsewhere, but I know that the three days after Thanksgiving, in the USA, are considered **big** shopping days. Pretty much many people go out shopping to the stores, malls, etc. It is the kick-off of the Christmas Holiday shopping season, and I know from experience that things get to be pretty crazy at times during these days. The TUY gang, as mentioned in "Holiday Gatherings," is planning to go shopping on Friday, so this story here is about the two separate groups as they hit the Middleton and Upperton malls. Let the fun begin! (big grin)

Story rating: Rated K+ (aka PG)

Written: August 2005  
Summery: It's fun times as the TUY gang hit the shopping malls after Thanksgiving!

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_Kim Possible: The University Years_

Shopping Craze  
By JuPMod (aka JPMod)

It was a sunny yet chilly Friday morning, when Debra Oxford Tsuda opened the front door of her family home and closed it behind her as she left. Knowing the weather, she wore comfortable jeans, shirt, sneakers, and topped it with a light coat. Her hair was held back by a blue scarfheadband, yet the long blonde/brown hair bounced as she stepped down the porch steps and nearly ran to the waiting red Toyota Corolla.

"Hi, Kim, Ron!" Debra greeted the two occupants of the vehicle as she entered through the back driver's side door.

"Hi, Deb," Kim Possible returned the greeting with a grin as she sat in the driver's seat. Her attire was much like Debra's, except she wore a green turtleneck shirt and a purple light coat. Her hair was loose and free.

"Morning, Debra!" Ron, sitting in the front passenger seat, grinned. He wore a blue light coat on top of a blue flannel shirt. Instead of jeans, he opted for cargo pants to carry his molerat buddy comfortably.

As Debra buckled up, Kim backed the car out of the Tsuda's driveway. "Ready to hit the mall, Deb?" the redhead asked as she put the car into forward/drive mode.

"I'm ready," the Upperton U's gymnastic star smirked as the car drove away. "It has been so long since I last went shopping for clothing and such."

"Oh?" Kim raised an eyebrow. "You didn't bother to shop for clothing during the past several months at Upperton U?"

The younger woman gave a half laugh and scoff. "Kim, when was there ever time to fully shop during school? I occasionally went to Upperton Mall, but I only had stayed for a short while to get the things I needed."

"She got you there, KP," Ron pointed with his usual Ron grin. "I'm amazed you make the time to occasionally shop given our full school schedule."

Kim rolled her eyes. "Ron… You know I couldn't stay away to see what new clothing comes out."

"Uh-huh," her boyfriend said as he looked at her. "You just couldn't stand that you could barely pay for Club Banana clothing." He smirked. "That's why you shop at Smarty Mart."

Debra shrugged. "So, what's wrong with shopping at Smarty Mart. I do that all the time when I visited Upperton Mall."

"You do?" both Ron and Kim mentioned, surprised. Ron turned around to look at Debra, while Kim was eying her through the rear-view mirror.

Looking back and forth between her two friends, Debra frowned. "Of course. I can't afford the high prices of most clothing stores in the mall, particularly Club Banana, so I go to Smarty Mart. I get the same clothing for far less."

"Booyah!" Ron pumped a fist. "We have a real Smarty Mart shopper here!"

Rufus jumped out of Ron's pants pocket to run up onto Debra's shoulder. "Smarty Mart!" he cried out, causing Debra to laugh as she patted the little fellow on the head.

Kim frowned. "Debra, I thought you were like me when it comes to certain taste in clothing."

"I am," Debra exclaimed. Her shoulders shrugged again. "It's just that I figured that most people wouldn't know the difference between clothing at Smarty Mart and Club Banana. They are made by the same company, right?"

Green eyes looking sideways, Kim noticed the satisfied smirk on Ron's lips. Giving a sigh, she relented. "True. If it weren't for me being on a budget, I would have shopped at Club Banana as I usually did when I was a teen."

"Soooo," Ron grinned as he placed hands behind his head. "This means we will be going to Smarty Mart. Debra and I have a majority here, right?"

Knowing him, Kim could tell he was pleased that they might be going to Smarty Mart. For Ron, Smarty Mart was his favorite place to shop. "I was hoping we could hit the Middleton Mall as we planned, Ron."

"I thought we were doing that," Debra said as she leaned forward. "We hit the mall first and check out the stores. Smarty Mart would perhaps be the very last place we'll visit, at the end of the day."

"What?" Ron was shocked. "No! Not shopping at the mall!"

Kim grinned in victory. It seemed Debra was on her side after all. "Sorry, Ron. Us ladies have spoken. We're going to the mall."

"Aw, man!" Ron sulked. "I hate shopping at the mall!"

Debra giggled, and Kim just smirked, knowing her boyfriend just hates shopping at the mall, as it means long hours going to store to store, particularly the clothes shops. Most men just do not have the patience for shopping compared to women, and Ron was no exception.

"Well, prepare yourself, Naco boy," the world heroine teased. "You're going to help **us**," she thumbed Debra then herself, "go clothes shopping."

Ron groaned, which Rufus copied. Both ladies laughed at this as they drove toward the Middleton Mall to be there after the stores open at 10:30 AM.

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"So this is your van, Felix?" Loretta Brown asked as she gazed at the brown passenger van along side Monique, George Castle, and Felix in Upperton U's closest parking lot to the dorms. The van was the old style passenger type that was designed for comfort on long travels. It has two doors in the front, one sliding door on the right side, and two back doors. A sunroof was over the front top, while an old-style boomerang shape TV antenna was at the top rear.

"Yep," Felix answered with a grin as he maneuvered his wheelchair to the sliding door. "It was used when my mom bought it for me two years ago. She and I modified it to suit my needs, given my disability." Pressing a button on his chair arm caused the sliding door to open on its tracks toward the rear of the van.

When the door was fully open, Loretta looked in and whistled. It has carpeting, several leather chairs, a small couch, a tiny small kitchenette with cabins to hold food, a small frig, and few other items. "Felix, how could you afford this?" the New Yorker asked in awe, while Monique and George grinned behind her.

Felix shook his head. "Despite appearances, Loretta, this van, as I said, was _used_. The engine was pretty much shot, yet all you see here," he swept a hand to indicate the luxury stuff, "was part of the van." He smirked. "My mom knew of a co-worker at the Middleton Space Center who was a quite a mechanic. He helped renovate the engine to run almost like new."

Activating his chair's hover abilities, he gently raised his chair into the van before again putting it down on its wheels. As Felix moved toward the driver's wheel, Loretta, George, and Monique hopped in and settled down in the leather chairs – Monique to the front passenger chair, George to the couch behind Monique, and Loretta on a chair in the rear besides the sliding door.

Upon placing himself in position, Felix pressed a button on the dashboard and the sliding door slid closed. Only then did he start the engine and back the van out of the handicap parking space and drive away.

"Felix," Loretta called out, "if someone who can walk needs to drive your van, where would they sit?"

George answered instead as he pointed to a leather chair that is behind Felix to the side. "That chair slides on a track to the driver's station, so if say any of us other than Felix needs to drive, we have a place to sit down."

His lips widened into a grin, George gestured to the strange circular machine in the center of the ceiling. "One of the coolest unique features of this van is that it has cyber robotics in it."

"Cyber robotics?" Loretta asked with a lopsided grin. "You telling me that this van can hover and fly like Felix's chair?"

Felix shook his head. "No it doesn't fly, Loretta. It does have cyber robotic arms to help, say, serve food, but my mom and I agreed that we would not give this van hover and flying abilities."

"Why not?" Loretta was bewildered. "It would be way cool to have a van that can fly like your wheelchair."

As the van left the main university entrance and turned onto Main Street, Felix explained. "It's all because of the Doom-V."

"The Doom-V?" Loretta was even more confused.

So Felix told the story of how, two years ago, Drakken, Shego, and Motor Ed stole his wheelchair in order to copy the cyber robotics technology into a fighting vehicle called the Doom-V. Kim, Ron, and Felix had managed to defeat the Doom-V and captured the three villains.

"So after that incident, my mom and I agreed that we shouldn't make any vehicles with hover and flying abilities. We don't want to alarm the Division of Motor Vehicles or anyone for the matter."

Loretta nodded her understanding. "That makes sense. Besides not wanting to alarm anyone, you wouldn't want anyone to control your van as Kim had done with the Doom-V using that game controller."

"Precisely," Felix agreed. "I don't want anyone controlling this van, so it's best not to give it hover and flying abilities. The only cyber robotics in this entire van is on the ceiling and some incorporated into the driver's station to help me drive."

Monique grinned slyly. "Nice to hear that story again, Felix, but we have a mission here." She pointed forward. "We're going shopping at the Upperton Mall! Full speed ahead!"

George and Loretta laughed, while Felix chuckled. "Not on your life, Monique!" Felix said. "I'm maintaining the speed limit, thank you very much." This time it was Monique's turn to laugh.

Going the speed limit, the van drove down Main Street toward Upperton Mall.

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From the outside, nothing seemed to have changed for Middleton Mall. It still has the same design that existed for years with a cylindrical shaped structure in the center connected to two rectangle structures on either side. It was the centerpiece of the large business shopping district of Middleton.

Yet as Ron, Kim, and Debra, with Rufus on Deb's shoulder, walked through the glass doors of the front main entrance, it was easy to see that things have changed inside the mall. Not in the way of design, but in the way of decorations - Christmas decorations that was. The large fountain, which was in the exact center of the mall and in line with the front entrance, now supports a large decorated Christmas tree that nearly reached the third floor. Holy, writhes, and other assorted holiday symbols adjoined poles, staircases, and railings along the walkways. Almost every store also displayed the tokens of the holiday season with Christmas sales signs.

"They're using the same decorations as last year," Debra pointed to the tree as they walked toward it while they unzipped their jackets, as it was warmer inside the mall. Various people were also walking about around them, now that the stores were opened.

Kim snorted with a grin. "They've been practically using the same decorations as long as I could remember, Debra."

Ron smirked. "You really think they're going to spend a lot of money for new decorations year after year?" He gestured to the Santa Claus display with the empty throne in front of the tree. "They still place the Santa Claus display for the kids in the same place."

"No doubt," Kim said, "because it is in the center of the mall. Quite a nice spot for all the children who want to talk to Santa and get their pictures taken with him." There was no doubt for the three that later in the day, this area would have a long line of parents and children waiting to greet Santa.

Before they reached the Christmas tree, they stopped in front of a mall directory, which displayed three top cross-sections, representing each floor. Stores were numbered and categorized to the type of goods or services they provided.

"So where do we go first?" Debra asked as they gazed at the directory. Rufus gave an "Hmmmmm" sound.

Kim smiled. "Simple." She pointed to the far left of the third floor section. "We start there," her finger moved toward the right, "and make our way across the mall. As we go, we'll check out stores that interest us."

Ron chuckled as he pointed to a store on the right side of the first floor section. "Like Club Banana?"

The redhead woman gave her man a knowing smirk of a grin. "Yes, like Club Banana."

Ron clutched his chest in mock alarm. "I'm shock! You're not going directly to the your favorite store first?"

Her green eyes narrowed as she pointed to him. "Oh, we'll get there, Mr. Stoppable." She smiled slyly. "We do have all day to walk around, and you'll be **our** carry-on boy to carry our bags." Her head turned to Debra. "Right, Deb?"

Catching on, Debra grinned slyly as well. "Right, Kim."

Ron blinked, yet he slowly grinned. He knew Kim wouldn't buy much given she was on a budget. "Whatever you say, ladies."

"Good!" Kim grinned in triumph before pointing to the left. "Let's go then!"

She walked off to the left, followed by Debra, who was tailed by Ron. The three made way through the mall to start their shopping day.

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Unlike Middleton Mall, Upperton Mall was different in design. Three stories tall, the mall is a hodgepodge of buildings that look like it has no real center. Yet it does have a center at the pentagon shape structure that has the front main entrance. The pentagon has least two rectangle buildings connected on one side to two cylinder structures, while on the other side of the pentagon has one larger rectangle building connected to two square shape structures. Various enclosed walkways connected the structures between the open spaces of the buildings. Despite the uneven design, it has grown to be accepted by the people as a good shopping mall with a variety of stores and a nice multiplex theatre.

Upperton Mall was part of the big business shopping district on the opposite side of the interstate from the small business area of Main Street and Upperton University. Besides the mall, there was a Smarty Mart, a couple supermarkets, several other chain stores, several office buildings, and other large businesses. Many had thought that once the mall and Smarty Mart were built, it would have put the smaller stores on Main Street out of business. Yet despite those gloomy predictions, the small businesses had not experienced any shortage of customers, given the large population of Upperton and the nearby university.

Despite the differences between Upperton and Middleton malls, the one thing in common they shared was the decorations for the holiday season. A large Christmas tree in the main center with holy, writhes, and other assorted decorations all about the mall.

In the Game Store, Felix was looking at the many games that could be played on his game console back at the dorm.

"How about this one?" He picked up a game titled "Star Fox IV".

George looked it. "I remembered playing the original "Star Fox". It was fun while it lasted. Yet when "Star Wars: X-Wing Fighter" came out, I found that far more exciting."

"Yeah," Felix agreed as he placed the game back on the shelf. "Now of these days, the fighter games are far faster than "X-Wing Fighter" ever was."

"I say," George nodded. "You better keep your eyes on the screen with today's games or else if you move away from the screen just for a few seconds, you might end up killed."

The two gaming guys strolled down the aisle and checked out the different types of video games. The truth was they could only look, given neither have the money to buy any of the games.

Outside the Game Store, Monique and Loretta were scoping out simple jewelry from one of the small mall vendors. Each vendor has a nice stand with pulled down doors to closed shop.

Eyeing a pair of teardrop sapphire-color earrings behind a glass case, Monique pointed them out. "Think they will look good?"

Loretta eyed the earrings. "Planning on any dates or anything?"

Monique smirked. "Girlfriend, if I was planning to go on a date, particularly a **formal** date, I wouldn't mind picking up **real** sapphire earrings in any of the three jewelry stores in this mall."

The sophomore student made a combination of snort and laugh. "My friend, if you could afford to buy any of those real gems, you presently wouldn't be here looking at cheap jewelry."

With a sparkle in her eyes, Monique whispered closely to the other woman's ear. "On a date, would the guy know the difference between real and fake jewelry?"

A sly grin appeared on Loretta's face. "Not unless he happens to be a jeweler."

Both girls laughed not noticing Felix and George leaving the Game Store.

"Looking for that right piece of jewelry to impress the men, ladies?" George teased, causing the two women to turn around.

"Castle," Monique began with one hand on her hip, "how would **you** know what piece of jewelry would look good to impress the guys?" Both ladies moved slightly away from the vendor stand to allow other people to survey the jewelry behind the glass case.

"Simple," George flourished. "If I say I like a certain piece of jewelry, the ladies would wear that piece to impress me." He placed a hand over his chest. "I am a guy, right?"

Both Felix and Loretta chuckled. Monique snorted with a grin as she pointed to him. "I'm not sure whether you are guy and not some intergalactic alien with long hair."

"Well, I'm not a Vulcan, that's for certain," he replied with a slight title in his head as he rubbed a finger over his round ear.

Felix laughed, while Loretta looked at George queerly with a grin. Monique did her best to hold in her laughter as she narrowed her eyes at the smug, grinning architect student. "Well, too bad," she said, "from what I know, Vulcans are quite **hot** to touch." She titled her head up at him.

Giving a mock disappointed look, George snapped his fingers. "Maybe I should have taken that interspecies alteration offer to look like a Vulcan."

With a hand over his eyes, Felix burst out laughing again. Not having any idea what a Vulcan was, Loretta just shook her head. Monique snorted, grinning at him. "Maybe, Castle, maybe."

Feeling the need to change the subject before George and Monique made him laugh any more, Felix turned his wheelchair around to head toward the food court in the center of the mall. "Come on, I feel a need to get something to eat. Maybe a nice smoothie to cool off."

"Good idea, Felix," Loretta said as he followed his lead. "It's 15 minutes past 12 now, so we better hit the food court if we want to get a table to eat on. The place already feels crowded now," she indicated to the many people walking around the mall as they went in-and-out of the stores.

Monique picked up her single large bag from Club Banana, which she had visited first upon entering the mall hours ago, and followed the other two. "I'm with you guys. Let's chow down and rest for a while."

"No arguments from me," George agreed as he tailed Monique. "I too could use a nice cool smoothie to drink."

So the four made their way toward the food court to rest as the holiday crowds grow ever larger.

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"Either of you ladies cared for dessert?" Ron asked with a smile. Both Kim and Debra shook their heads.

"No thanks, Ron," Kim said. "I feel full enough with what we ate." She gestured to the empty Bueno Nacho food wrappings and boxes on his and her trays.

"Thanks but no," Debra replied before taking a sip of her strawberry smoothie through a straw. Her lunch had consisted of Far East servings of rice, vegetables, and a salad.

Rufus, despite having gorged on nachos and a burrito, jumped on Ron's shoulder and nodded his head eagerly. "Uh, uh! Dessert!"

Smiling that least his little buddy was with him, Ron had gotten up from his chair. "Well, pardon me and Rufus as we head over to get some ice cream."

With that said, he strolled away and headed toward the ice cream vendor of the Middleton Mall's food court, which was on the third floor right above the main entrance lobby. Besides the view of the Christmas tree on one side, the food court also has windows on the other side looking out at the parking lot and the views of Middleton beyond. The three university students had taken a table besides one of two open rectangles with glass and metal railings, giving a view of the many people walking about down on the first floor.

Debra eyed her redhead friend with a small grin. "Your boyfriend never ceased to amaze me, regarding that appetite of his."

"Same here." Kim smiled as she kept her eye on Ron who was not far away as he waited in a short line for ice cream. "He certainly burns off a lot of calories without even having to exercise."

"Lucky him," Debra snorted before taking another sip of smoothie.

Turning her gaze to the freshman student, Kim nodded with a frown/grin. "Yeah, he doesn't have to worry much regarding gaining weight." She pointed to Debra and then herself. "We on the other hand have to watch our weight."

"Which is not easy," Debra mentioned with a frown, "given all the desert foods that are out there."

Kim reached over and patted Debra's hand. "We both are not going to give in to temptation, Deb. Besides," she smiled, "we both can easily work off the calories."

Debra slyly smiled at that. "True. I certainly enjoyed our workouts together, Kim."

"Same here," Kim agreed, returning the smile.

At that moment, Ron returned with a medium cup of vanilla ice cream and a small one for Rufus. After placing the small cup down, which the pink mole rat immediately attacked with joy, the blonde man sat on his chair in a simple triangle with Debra and Kim on the small round table.

Seeing him indulge himself with the ice cream, Kim smirked. "You really are a food lover through and through."

Ron smiled back. "Yep. It's always good to find out the best tastes the world has to offer if I'm going to be a good chef."

"You already are a good chef," Kim snorted with a chuckle.

"It doesn't hurt to see whether I can improve myself, KP," he winked at her, causing her to chuckle again.

Out of the corner of her green eyes, Kim noticed that Debra was glancing sideways out of the corner of her blue eyes. She frowned, for she knew something was bothering the girl.

"Deb?" Kim turned her head to fully look into her friend's eyes. "What's wrong?"

"What makes you think that something is wrong?" Debra tried to feign innocence.

Kim frowned fully. "In the past hour, since we've first sat down, you've been giving sideway glances occasionally. You look like someone constantly on the watch."

This time, Deb frowned, and for a few moments, she thought it was best not to tell her. Yet she knew Kim would understand better than anyone else. Sighing, she leaned forward. "Kim, Ron… Did you guys notice that there are people watching us?"

Glancing sideways themselves, Kim and Ron saw some people were watching them. They weren't watching directly but occasionally giving glances. Some were teenagers, talking to each other while pointing at them. It was clear why Debra was feeling slightly uncomfortable.

Looking back at her friend, Kim nodded her head. "Yes, they're watching. I'm not surprised. Debra, you know we are well-known to the public."

"I know that," Debra softly hissed. "It's just I have a feeling they're watching me more than you."

Ron was confused. "How can you tell that?"

"How about we find out?" Kim said. "I'm going to the ladies bathroom. Just watch to see how many eyes train on me." She gotten up and walked toward the public restroom off the side of the food court.

As she walked toward the bathroom, Ron and Debra noticed that some heads did turned toward Kim's direction, but most were still trained on their table. A few minutes later, Kim returned, giving the same results.

After she sat down, Ron replied. "More eyes were on our table than on you, Kim."

Debra sighed. "Now it's my turn." With that said, she rose and walked toward the restroom. Kim and Ron saw that out of those watching, most turned to eye Debra, and the same was when she returned a few minutes later.

After Debra sat down, Kim sighed. "You were right that most eyes were trained on you, Debra."

"No doubt due to my new popularity after defeating Drakken," Debra snorted, a bit disgusted.

Ron grinned encouragingly. "Don't let them get to you, Deb. We're here to have fun."

Kim followed Ron's lead. "Ron's right," she grinned softly. "Don't let them ruin our time here." She reached out to hold her friend's hand, offering support and courage.

Sighing again, the petite young woman squeezed the hand back. "You're right. It's just…" She shrugged. "I'm not used to being stared at. Not on this level, compared to what I endured as Upperton U's gymnastic champion before Drakken."

"You'll get used to it." Kim squeezed her friend's hand one last time before withdrawing. "Ron and I certainly did. Besides, it's better that they're just looking, rather than coming up to us. Least this showed they respected our privacy."

Debra couldn't dispute the sound reasoning. "That makes sense."

Getting up, Kim picked up her tray. "Let's get going." She eyed Debra. "You want to find a good dress for Sunday, right? None of the stores we've been to have anything good enough. We'll check out a few more stores before heading to my favorite one." Kim's face creased into slight joy.

Picking up her tray as she rose, Debra knew of what Kim was referring. "Club Banana, right?" she slyly grinned.

"Club Banana." Kim confirmed with a sly grin of her own.

"Fine with me," Debra said, grinning. "Let's go then." She walked toward the nearest trashcan, followed by Kim. Both ladies dumped their trash.

"Wait up!" Ron cried out as he quickly finished the small remainder of his ice cream as the two women placed their trays on the top of the trashcan lid. As the women walked away, he quickly placed the empty cup on the tray and scooped the tray up with a content Rufus sleeping on it. He gently placed his pet in his cargo pants pocket before dumping the trash, returning the tray, and making way through the crowds to catch up with his companions.

Kim and Debra both eyed each other with a grin, knowing Ron could easily catch up to them anyway.

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A couple hours after they had eaten their lunch, George was shifting through men's shirts in the Gap Store with Felix watching, while Loretta and Monique were picking up and comparing the women's clothing on the other side of the store.

Felix chuckled. "I never thought you were the clothes type of guy, George."

"I'm not," George grinned as he placed a shirt back on a rack. "I don't talk or compare clothes like the ladies do." He pointed to the Monique and Loretta still chatting away as they compared clothes. "If I have the need to buy clothes, I simply come in, see what I like, buy them, and get out."

"Pretty much like most guys do," Felix agreed with a grin.

"Yeah, but since we're here and have to wait for the ladies to finish their thing, we might as well see what the men's clothes look like," George said as he gestured to the men's clothing section of the store. He grinned and gave a small shrug. "Who knows? One might never know if one could find something they could use."

Shaking his head, Felix gave a small smirk. "I'm not going to find what I need here. After we leave the mall, I want to stop by Smarty Mart to pick up some socks."

George raised an eyebrow. "But you don't walk, man!"

Pointing at his feet, enclosed by the sneakers, Felix replied. "I may not walk, but that doesn't prevent the elastics of the socks from wearing out after so much wear and wash."

Rolling his eyes, George snorted in agreement. "Tell me about it! I sometimes wish they could make good socks that have the elastics that last long." He furrowed his face. "That reminds me that I should pick up more underwear, when we go to Smarty Mart. Some of mine have the waist elastics wearing out."

Felix thumbed over his shoulder to the two women. "Good thing they didn't ask us to judge what clothing they might look good in during this shopping trip."

"How could you know what it's like?" George asked a bit skeptical. "You're a only child, Felix.

"You know I have an older sister three years older than me, right? Well, when she was in high school, she sometimes dragged me shopping and kept asking me whether she looked good in this or that piece of clothing. It was a real drag! I asked her why she couldn't get her boyfriends to judge. She said she wanted to surprise them." George rolled his eyes heavenward. "She was worst than Mom when she sometimes dragged Dad into clothes shopping."

"I maybe an only child, George," Felix frowned. "But my Mom had me as the only man in her life after she divorced my father when I was three. When I reached 12 years old, she dragged me shopping and asked **me** whether I think she looked good in particular clothing. I mean, she's my **mom**! My **mom** was asking **me** for clothing advice!" The wheelchaired man huffed. "I couldn't understand why she couldn't get some of her female co-workers to help her out."

George gave a sympathetic grin. "It's us **men** they are trying to impress, Felix. They want our opinion so they could tell whether they look good or not. They have no idea we don't have fashion sense sometimes." He pointed to Monique and Loretta. "Least these two ladies are not asking us for our opinions, given they are not out to impress us."

Felix only nodded in response.

Just then, George tapped his friend's shoulder and again pointed to the two ladies, whom were approaching them.

"Okay, guys," Monique said, "Loretta is going to buy a few clothes here and we'll be out of here." With that said, the two women made way to the checkout register in the back of the store.

As the two women walked away, Felix turned to George with a sly grin. "Good thing Kim and Ron are not here. No doubt Kim would ask Ron whether she look good in particular clothing. She always mostly dragged him shopping."

George chuckled. "Yeah, he hated that." His face curled up in thought. "I wonder what those two lovebirds are doing now?"

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"I don't know, Kim." Ron gave a wane grin. "It just doesn't seem like you."

"Really?" Kim said as she twirled around and looked down at herself. "I thought it looked okay."

The blonde man shook his head a bit at the black dress his love was wearing now. It was just a tad **too** sexy for formal events in his eyes. It was totally strapless with two slits in the tight knee length skirt that rises up to the hips. He remembered that nice little black dress Kim wore during the time she had the moodulator. That dress was okay, but this dress she was currently wearing, in front of the changing rooms of Club Banana, was just a bit too far in exposing skin. If she ever wore this dress to formal events, a lot of men would definitely go wolfish on her.

"Trust me, KP," Ron said, still giving that wane grin. "It's not you. As much as I appreciate the eye candy, you don't need to show me a **lot** to impress me." Even Rufus agreed with his owner as he bobbed his head from the cargo pants pocket.

Her lips slowly curved up in a devilish grin. "Too bad. I wouldn't mind dressing up like this for **you**." She shrugged her shoulders and her face returned to normal. "However, if you say so."

Ron sighed. He just hated this part of the whole shopping trip. Ever since Kim had started wearing fashionable clothes when she was least 14 years old, she sometimes dragged him with her to ask his opinions on clothing. He simply had no fashionable sense to tell whether Kim would look good in certain clothing unless it happened to get his hormones raging. He had been glad then that Kim had her mother and Monique to ask most of the time, but ever since Kim and him had became a couple, she mostly asked for his opinions. He'd rather be elsewhere now than playing judge & jury to fashion.

"Kim, what do you think?" Debra said as she came out of a dressing room wearing a nice black dress with a wide, ankle length skirt. It has two straps with modest cleavage, and the full sleeved, open, crop jacket provided a good finish to the outfit, covering the straps but showing the chest.

Kim grinned as she surveyed her friend, whom turned around 180 degrees for inspection. "Nice, Deb. It's mostly modest, yet it hugs your waist and chest just right for a hint of femininity."

Finishing spinning around, Debra faced Kim as she looked down at herself. "I've been trying dresses for the past 30 minutes, and yet this one seemed just right." Her face came up to look at her friend. "Least it's modest, as you said." Her lips curled up into a smirk. "Unlike you."

"Hey!" Kim gave a mock ticked expression. "I'm certainly not going to wear this dress," she touched the dress she was wearing, "this Sunday. It's definitely not suitable." Her face lit up, grinning. "I already have a good dress suitable for the occasion."

Debra's eyes momentarily locked with Ron's as she gave a sly grin. In response, Ron just shook his head as he gave a small chuckle. The young woman was no fool as to why Kim really showed off to Ron with this very sexy outfit.

"So," Kim said, getting back on topic, "are you planning to buy this dress?"

"Not here, that is," Debra responded. "I know Smarty Mart will have this dress, so I'll buy it there."

Kim felt a bit betrayed. "Why not here? It's a Club Banana dress!"

Debra shook her head as she grinned. "Kim… I know the same company runs Club Banana and Smarty Mart. Why should I spend more just for a label? Besides, I'm going to charge my parent's credit card for a dress, which I can get for less at Smarty Mart. They gave me the card just to buy the dress, and I'm not going to put a huge charge on it."

The redhead huffed. "Smarty Mart… If it weren't for me being on a budget, I wouldn't shop there anyway."

Giving a small chuckle as she shook her head again, Debra just let Kim's complaint slide. "I'm on a budget too. I was raised to spend money wisely. My dad always say 'Money saved today can be used to buy things tomorrow.'" With that said, she entered the changing room.

Kim blinked after Debra, while Ron grinned in appreciation for what the gymnastic athlete had said. "Now those are words of the wise," he said. "Uh, uh," Rufus agreed.

Turning her head to look at her beau, Kim glared at him. Ron simply just grinned, not allowing her to intimidate him. Three years ago, he would have gringed from her glares, but today, when knowing he had done nothing wrong, the young man just stood his ground and did not allow her to affect him.

"So," Ron said, still grinning, "I guess we're done here. Deb has found the dress she has been looking for, therefore we can get going to our next destination."

"Not so fast," Kim pointed at him. Her face slowly became devious. "Debra and I have been looking for clothing for us most of the day. It's now **your **turn to start trying on some clothes."

Ron's eyes bugged out as he sputtered. "M… M… Me? But I already have clothes to wear! I don't need any more!"

Kim crossed her arms, feeling confident. "I'm going to change back to my own clothes, and when I come out, I'm going to choose your clothes and you're going to try them on. It doesn't hurt for you to have good fashionable clothing."

"But I already have some good fashionable clothing, KP! I don't need any more!"

"Please, for me, Ronnie."

Ron slapped a hand over his eyes. "No! No! No!" Despite gaining the abilities to resist Kim's aggressive nature, he still was vulnerable to one Kim Possible weapon when used at full force against him. The Puppy Dog Pout.

Taking a peek between his fingers, he regretted it, for she was still sporting the Pout. Gritting his teeth, he caved in to the inevitable. "Okay! I'll try on clothes!"

Her Pout turned into a full smile. "Great! I'll be out shortly." She turned and entered her changing room.

Coming out of her dressing room back in her own clothes, Debra, holding several dresses back in their hangers, gave Ron a sly and sympathetic grin. "It shouldn't be that bad, Ron."

"Easy for you to say," Ron grossed. "You haven't yet had to witness Kim's Puppy Dog Pout."

"Puppy Dog Pout?" Debra was intrigued. "You're saying Kim have a particular pouting expression that makes you do what she wants?"

Ron narrowed his eyes at Kim behind the dressing doors, for Kim was giving a victorious grin back at him. "Yes, like she had done just a few moments ago. You didn't see it."

Giving an amused grin, Debra patted Ron's shoulder. "Time for you to get fashionable, Ron." Giggling, she walked away to put the dresses back on their racks as Ron turned his glare momentarily at Debra's back. Turning back to Kim, he saw her wink at him from behind the changing doors. Letting go of his glare, he sighed and waited for what to come.

Just few minutes later, Kim emerged, returned the dresses she had tried, and began sorting through the men's clothes for suitable fashions that, in her mind, would look good on Ron.

With Rufus being with Debra, Ron spent 20 minutes trying on various combinations of shirts & pants. Kim, being a better fashion judge & jury than Ron, dismissed some combinations as tasteless while approving others as acceptable. Even Debra thought Ron looked good in the clothes Kim particularly enjoyed.

Kim saved the best for last, however, as she gave Ron a tan shirt and blue pants, while Debra was looking at women's shirts around the corner from the dressing rooms. After he came out in the shirt and pants, Ron couldn't help but feel the pants were tight on his butt.

"Kim?" he asked. "Are you sure you chose the right pants? This one seemed a little tight on my butt." He turned his head around to see his girlfriend was staring at his butt with a slightly flushed, grinning face.

"That's the **idea**, Ron," Kim answered sweetly, still staring at that amazing rump. Stepping a few steps back to look around the corner, Kim called out, "Debra, come and look at Ron."

Debra appeared and stood next to Kim. Her eyes went wide for a few seconds on what she saw before narrowing as she gave a wolf-whistle. "Ron, that is one cute **butt**." She burst into giggles, eyes closed.

Even Rufus was laughing as she stood on Debra's shoulder. "Cute butt!" he said and laughed some more.

Kim slightly giggled as she approached Ron, her green eyes on his brown ones. "I'm going to buy this set for you."

"This one?" Ron was surprised. "What about your budget?"

Still smiling sweetly, Kim patted his arm. "Before you and your 'rents left my home yesterday, I cornered your mother and convinced her to give me some cash to buy you good clothes. I knew she appreciated me occasionally getting you good, fashionable clothing to wear."

Ron rolled his eyes. "Thanks a lot, Mom," he sarcastically stated, causing Kim to giggle some more.

While Kim and Ron were talking, they weren't aware that Debra developed a devilish look to an idea that popped into her head. Taking out her cell phone with built-in camera, she quickly took a snapshot of Ron before emailing the shot to a certain address along with a text message. The young woman knew the receiver would love seeing Ron like this.

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Monique, Loretta, Felix, and George were strolling down past stores on the second floor when a ringtone sounded from Monique's handbag. Moving over to the side with the others, so they would not be trampled by the numerous of shoppers wandering by, Monique took out her cell phone.

"Hey, it's a text message from Debbie!" Monique announced, looking at her phone's small screen. "Along with a pic attachment."

"What did she write?" Loretta peered at the phone from Monique's right, while Felix looked from the left with George looking over Monique's right shoulder.

"She wrote, 'Mon tak a look at Ron's nw look Deb'"

"Ron's new look?" George was bewildered.

Monique shrugged. "One way to find out." She punched a button to show the attached pic.

Their jaws were on the floor the moment they saw the picture.

"No way!" George cried out. "That's Ron?"

"That's definitely Ron!" Felix said.

Loretta recovered from the surprise to chuckle. "I say he has a nice butt there."

Upon hearing those words, Monique too recovered and began giggling. "Definitely a nice butt."

While pointing at the pic, Felix turned his head to look at George. "You never noticed that during all that time as Ron's roommate?"

"Hey, man!" George felt bit peeved. "We don't undress down to our birthday suits in front of each other! He mostly wears boxers, and the pants and jeans he wears are not **that** tight!" He pointed to the cell phone picture. His face slowly turned humorous. "I do admit that Ron sure does look nice there."

Felix chuckled. "Yep, that is one **tight** rump of his." He and George laughed.

Smiling, Loretta looked closely at the picture. "That's Kim barely seen to Ron's right. So where are those three?"

"I recognized the place," Monique smiled. "That's Club Banana at Middleton Mall. I'd worked there part-time when I was in high school."

"So they're there right now?" Felix asked.

Still smiling, Monique nodded. "Yep, they're there, given the time this pic was sent." Her expression turned sly. "I'm giving them a call." Her thumb pressed a speed-dial selection.

"I want to talk to Ron!" George gleefully mentioned.

"I get first dibs in tweaking Ron, Castle!" Monique smiled evilly.

"I want to tweak him too!" Felix said mischievously.

As the phone ringed, George rubbed his hands together like an evil mad scientist. "Ohhhhh, this **is** going to be **fun**!"

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Knowing he would not win, Ron submitted that Kim would get him to wear this set of clothes in the future. He gave a small defeated grin at his steady love. "You win, KP. Least the good news for me is that George is not here. I wouldn't hear the end of it, if he saw me now."

Kim reached up and gave him a quick kiss before grinning smugly at him. "Too bad Monique is not here. I know she would have enjoyed the view as much as Debra and I."

At that moment, Debra's cell phone ringed, causing the couple to look at her. Already having the phone lid open, Debra just pressed a button before putting the phone to her ear.

"Hello? Hi, Monique!" Debra chimed; making Kim and Ron's eyes went wide upon hearing who has called. "Oh, yes!" Her mischievous blue eyes locked onto Ron's face. "Ron definitely has a nice butt."

"What?" Ron nearly shouted, causing a few other shoppers to turn their heads to him, as he took a few steps toward Debra with Kim following.

"Debra…" Kim mentioned with a growing amused suspicion on what she had done. "What did you do?"

Eyes twinkling, Debra held up the cell phone. "Oh, I took a pic of Ron's nice behind with my cell phone camera and sent it to Monique's cell phone."

"You didn't!" Both Ron and Kim exclaimed with different expressions – Ron nearly horrified while Kim was tickled pink.

Putting the phone back to her ear, Debra nodded a few times, her face still devilishly amused. "You heard them, eh?" Her face scrunched up a bit. "Who?" She began giggling. "They're there too?"

"Who's there?" Kim couldn't contain herself anymore. "Debra! I want to talk to Monique!"

Holding up a finger to prevent Kim from grabbing the phone, an idea came to Debra. "Monique? Does your cell phone have speaker-phone capacity?" After a moment pause, Debra's face lit up. "Great! Do it! I'll put mine on speaker-phone."

Her thumb pressed a button, and the next thing Kim, Ron, and Debra heard was a chorus of voices addressing as one from the phone's speaker. "Hi, Ron!"

"Kim?" a familiar voice came next.

"Monique?" Kim smiled, as she grew closer to Debra to speak down into the phone.

"Kim girl, you certainly have a flare for fashion to put Naco Boy into those **tight** blue pants! Woo! Talk about a sexy butt!"

"Aw, man!" Ron groaned, understanding Monique knew. "Who else is there?" he asked as he drew closer to Kim and Debra.

"Ron, my man!" came a male voice.

Ron's eyes went wide. "George?"

"Ron, I never knew you're a stud of this magnitude!" George laughed. "I'm going to ask Debra or Monique for a copy of the pic so I can make hard copies to post on every bulletin board in the dormitories. Both girls and boys!"

"No!" Ron cried out as he quickly leaned down to Debra's phone. "Do that, and I kill you!"

"I don't think that's going to stop him, Ron," another male voice, quite amused, came from the speaker.

"Felix?" Kim and Ron cried out. Kim began laughing, while Ron placed hands over his eyes.

Moaning, Ron shook his head. "I'm not going to hear the end of this for a while when I get back to the university." He removed his hands to stare down at the cell phone, looking miserable.

"Debra, are you there?" a familiar voice to Debra asked.

"Loretta," Debra beamed, "where are you four exactly, anyway?"

"We're at Upperton Mall, Debbie. We're doing what you three are doing now – shopping!" Loretta chuckled. "I say, Debbie, you took quite a picture there! It made our day here! I never knew Kim's boyfriend had a nice posture of an ass!" She began laughing.

Debra's eyes locked on Ron's. "Thanks, Loretta. I certainly enjoyed the show." Ron's face was nearly red as Kim's hair now.

Realizing that they were drawing stares from other people, particularly the store's employees, Kim decided to close the conversation. "It's great to hear from you guys," Kim mentioned still smiling, "but we better sign off now. I don't want to get kick out of my favorite store."

"I know what you mean, Kim," Monique replied. "I had worked for Club Banana, so I know what it's like to kick out loud people talking on their cell phones. I don't want to see that happen to you three."

"I'm going to ask Debbie here for a copy of that pic of Ron," Kim mentioned as she trained her green eyes on her flushing boyfriend. "I might scrap book the shot."

Monique gently laughed. "Why wouldn't you scrap book it, girl? It's a great shot!"

Laughing, Kim waved down at the phone. "Talk to you later! Bye, guys!"

"Bye, everyone!" Debra grinned as she spoke before holding up the phone to Ron.

Ron gave a feeble grin. "Bye, guys."

"Bye, Kim, Ron, Debra!" four voices sang out.

Before Debra could close the line, Ron reached out and grabbed her hand to steady it as he spoke quickly into the phone. "George! I mean it! Don't plaster that pic on the boards!"

"Ehhhhhh, I might do it anyway," George replied with a smug voice. "See you on Monday, Butt Man! Toodles!"

With that said, the line was closed on the other side before Debra pressed a button to close her side of the line. For a few moments, only Rufus's laughter was heard among the three.

Ron glared at Debra, who gave a sweet smile back at him. "Debra… You are **evil**!"

"Definitely evil," Kim agreed, but out of amused respect. Rufus, still laughing, bobbed him head up and down to concur.

Still sweetly smiling at him, Debra nodded. "I know." She narrowed her eyes. "Don't you just **love** the Internet?"

"Currently, I don't," Ron grumbled. Debra laughed.

Grabbing him by the shoulders, Kim turned him around and pushed him toward his dressing room. "Go change back into your own clothes, Butt Man," she giggled. "Then I'll buy that shirt and pants for you."

Still grumbling, Ron did what he was told, and a few minutes later, he emerged and gave the new shirt and pants to Kim.

As they left Club Banana into the busy mall, the two women and one naked molerat were still grinning, while the blonde man wondered what jokes he would endure once he returned to the university on Monday.

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Nearly 30 minutes after talking with Kim, Ron, and Debra, Monique was browsing through the latest issue of a monthly fashion magazine in the mall's bookstore. She was besides one side of a two-sided magazine rack, while Loretta was reading the latest issue of People's magazine next to Monique.

On the other side of the rack, George stood as he read the latest architectural design magazine, while Felix was going through the games magazines. His chair's mechanical arms held a magazine as he read it.

Folding his magazine closed and deciding to buy it, George held the issue as he took a few steps and read over Felix's shoulder. "Any interesting games coming out later?"

"None that I read seemed interesting," Felix replied. Moving the joystick on his chair, the mechanical arms folded the magazine closed before placing it back on the upper section of the rack. The arms slid back into the chair before Felix turned the chair around to face George. "Deciding to buy the latest architectural magazine, I see."

George grinned as he held up the issue. "I always stay current with the latest design ideas as you know. They'll help me think of designs of my own."

"I want to check the science-fiction book section of the store," Felix said as his chair moved back to allow other people to scope the magazines. The bookstore was crowded now, since it was one of the most popular stores in the mall.

Shrugging, George followed Felix around the magazine rack. "Fine with me." Upon seeing Loretta engaged in reading her magazine, George smirked. "Any juicy celebrity gossip, Loretta?"

"This is People's magazine, George," Loretta grinned without taking her eyes off the story she was reading, "not the tabloids, like National Inquirer."

Snapping his fingers, George turned to look and point down at Felix. "Did the Inquirer the other day say Elvis's brain was found in a top secret lab under the White House?"

"I think that story was in the Sun issue," Felix countered. "And yes, the story was about the President wanting to resurrect Elvis to control the teenage population."

Slapping his hands on his cheeks, George gave a mock expression of fear and shock. "Oh, my God! It's the end of the world! Elvis as a freaky mind-controlling zombie!"

Felix gave a lopsided grin. "From what I read, I thought he was a mind-controlling zombie when he was alive. He did generated a lot of screaming fans," he teased.

"Hey! That's right!" George pretended to look excited. "That means the King of Rock & Roll was an alien!" Both George and Felix burst out laughing.

A few other people overhearing the duo also gently laughed, while Loretta and Monique only smiled as they shook their heads.

Waving her hand, Monique continued shaking her head. "I don't believe in any those tabloids stories. They're good for a few laughs anyway."

"Hey!" George pretended to act indignant. "Those stories are true! The Men in Black trust them!"

Monique gave a spluttered chuckle. "That's just a movie, Castle! Aliens living among us? Get real!" She turned back to reading her magazine with an amused grin.

Giving a big grin, George grandly gestured to himself. "Hey! I am real!" He pinched himself on the arm through his jacket and shirt. "Yep, I'm real alright." His expression turned mock thoughtful. "Unless we're all part of a computer generated dream world."

"Like the Matrix?" Felix added, grinning as he joined the game.

"That's it!" George pointed at his friend before both hands spread in a grand gesture. "Our entire world is one big computer fantasy!"

"Or we're just animated characters on a TV show," Loretta inserted with a grin. Monique giggled at that.

Looking at Loretta, George pointed at her. "Hey! That's a thought!" He turned to Felix. "I wonder what I look like as an animated character."

"I wonder what I look like as an animated character," Felix chuckled. "Maybe Kim and Ron would be better for an animated TV show, given all those missions they had done while in high school."

Monique nodded. "Their stories would make good episodes for a TV series."

"Yeah," George rubbed his chin before his hand waved through the air like a sign was in front of him. "'The Adventures of Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable'!"

"Bit too wordy, Castle," Monique mentioned, enjoying this game.

"Oh, alright!" George gave a mock tweaked expression. "'The Adventures of Ron Stoppable!' How's that?"

Felix softly laughed. "Kim will kill you for leaving her out!"

"Meh!" George smiled, dismissing such a thing. "She'll get over it."

Still smiling, Felix shook his head as he moved his chair past the girls and headed toward the science-fiction book section."

Turning to the girls, George thumbed over his shoulder to the exit. "How about we go to the arcade after we're done here? Either of you ladies up to a game of DDR?"

Monique titled her head up a bit to eye the young man. "Are you up to getting your butt kicked?"

George grinned at her. "Have you seen me play DDR?"

Taking the challenge, Monique pressed. "You should know, Castle, that I'm pretty good in DDR."

"So am I," George countered, still grinning.

"Then prepare to get trounced," she mentioned, her face in a grinning dare.

"I'm looking forward to it," he winked before walking away toward the science-fiction section.

Chuckling, Monique once again focused on her magazine reading.

"Monique girl," Loretta began not taking her eyes off her reading, "are you really that good?"

Monique shrugged. "Pretty much. I haven't seen George play, so it'll be interesting to see how good he is at it. I do know Kim and Ron are better at the game. They could easily have beaten me."

Loretta softly chuckled. "Too bad they're not here. I would love to see them play."

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"Whoa!" Debra hollered in enjoyment as the loud music and games' noise blared around her in the Middleton Mall's arcade. "You two really have the moves!"

"Yeah!" Rufus agreed as he stood on Debra's right shoulder.

The pair was right behind Kim and Ron as the couple moved together in synch to the music and directions of the DDR game. Their quick reflexes and skills had generated high scores as they ascended the game levels, and in a short period of time, a small group of onlookers gathered around to watch the duo sway to the fast scrolling arrows.

"Ha!" Ron cried out in triumph as they reached another level. "This game is a snap for us!"

"With all those years of freak fighting, not to mentioned the dancing lessons we took, I'm not surprised, Ron," Kim smiled as they caught their breath for the momentarily break between levels. Her finger pushed back a few tendrils of hair in front of her face to behind her ear, before she prepared for the next level.

A few minutes later after ending the game, Kim and Ron achieved high scores to have their names in the game's top rank list for the day. Some people applauded when they achieved this.

Stepping off the DDR platform as the onlookers strolled away to other games, Kim and Ron wiped their brows with the sleeves of their shirts. "Playing that game sure is a workout, KP," Ron mentioned with a grin.

"Of course it is," Debra grinned at them. "One has to have quick reflexes to press the foot pads the moment you see the arrows on the screen. The quicker you press them, the better." She locked eyes with Kim's. "Knowing to dance maybe a plus, but it doesn't guarantee a person would be good at the game."

"True," Kim conceded the point.

Smirking, Debra thumbed to the DDR game. "Either you up to play besides me?"

Kim waved her off. "I need to catch my breath, Debbie. Maybe in another 10 minutes or so."

"Same here," Ron grinned. "I don't mind playing any of the one-to-one combat games as we rest though."

"Oh, poo!" Debra frowned in disappointment. "It's no fun playing alone!"

Rufus jumped up-and-down. "I'll play! I'll play!" The three young people laughed at the little guy's enthusiasm.

"Sorry, Rufus," Debra grinned at him. "Unless you are big enough to press on those human-size foot pads, I don't think you can play. Thanks for the offer though." She gently kissed the molerat's forehead, causing his face to turn a higher shade of pink than his skin.

"I'll tell you what, Deb," Ron pointed to her. "Play with me on the one-to-one combat games, and I'll play with you on DDR when I feel I have rested enough. Say in 15 minutes?"

"Deal!" Debra smirked as Ron picked up his coat hung over the DDR platform's rear pipe railing.

Kim picked up her coat and the Club Banana shopping bag next to the DDR platform. "While you two play, I'm going to the ladies' restroom and a stop over at one of the nearby stores. I'll be back in, say, 20 minutes."

"Will do, KP," Ron agreed. "Come on, Deb!" He led Debra through the arcade, while Kim left the arcade to do her thing.

An approximate 23 minutes later, Kim returned to the arcade to find Debra and Ron on the DDR game, while Rufus was watching as he sat on the rear pipe railing behind Ron. A knowing smile creased Kim's lips, for she had a strong hunch Debra would be good in DDR, and she was not disappointed to see the younger woman ranking up the points.

Just like before, a small group of onlookers gathered around to watch as the two players reached level after level. Kim knew Debra's reflexes as a gymnastic athlete and martial artist would make her a good DDR player.

Surely enough, after many more minutes, like Kim and Ron beforehand, Debra and Ron attained high scores on the daily top-ranking list.

After the onlookers' applause died down and the two stepped off the platform, Kim smiled at the younger woman. "I'm not one bit surprise you are good, Deb."

Debra shrugged with a proud grin. "Unlike you and Ron, I barely know how to dance. As I said before, one just needs quick reflexes to really be good at DDR."

"Yep," Ron said, grinning. "Look at the Ron! I made the top 10 **twice**!"

"Uh-huh," Kim smirked, as she pointed to the top list currently displayed on the game. "And Deb and I have higher scores than you, thus we have a higher ranking than you."

Ron just smiled. "They always say a gentlemen should let the ladies go first. Therefore, I don't mind you taking a higher rank than me."

"Aw!" Debra gave a pretended lovable look. "How sweet of you." Both Kim and Ron chuckled.

Taking off her coat and placing it on the rail, Kim nudged Debra. "Come on. I challenge you to a game, and afterward, we'll head to Smarty Mart for you to pick up that dress you want."

So Kim and Debra played a game of DDR as Ron and Rufus watched. As expected, both ladies excelled with Kim barely beat Debra, given both women were very good. At the end, both found themselves placing their names again in the daily top rankings.

Afterward, the three left Middleton Mall for their final destination before heading home.

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The sun was nearly setting when Monique, Loretta, George, and Felix were walking out of Upperton Mall into the parking lot. They had spent another hour or two just looking around the mall's stores after spending a couple hours in the arcade.

"Boy, that sure was a long day," George said as they approached Felix's van. "I think my feet are a tad sore."

"From all the walking or playing DDR?" Monique teased.

"Maybe from both," George smirked. "You sure can beat a guy down in DDR."

Monique smugly grinned. "When you have the moves, you have the moves. I have the moves, while you didn't. Barely."

"Ouch," George clutched his chest dramatically, pretending to be hurt. "That hurts."

"You'll live," Monique patted his arm, still smiling.

As the van's sliding door slid opened, Felix grandly said, "All aboard! Next stop is Smarty Mart!" He grinned as his chair hovered up and into the van. "George and I needed to get some good clothing there that will not make us go broke."

Loretta shrugged. "While I'm there, I might as well buy some snacks and food to eat back at the dorm. Least it's a good place for food as a supermarket." He climbed into the van, followed by Monique and George.

As the van's door slid closed, Monique said, "Smarty Mart… The university student's shopping place. It's sooooo… **discount**."

Laughter from the other three could be heard as the door closed completely. A minute later, the van's engine started and the headlights came on. The van backed out of the parking space and drove away.

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It has been quite a crazy day for everyone during this first full day of the Holiday Season. They knew in the upcoming month, things would tend to get crazier with the Holiday Season and the final exams of the semester approaching.

Yet, they couldn't dispute that they all had a good time during this day, crazy as it was.

The End

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After-story A/N:

1) The scene of Ron wearing the tight pants showing his butt was inspired by Goofmore's fanart at Deviantart, and captainkodak1's K/R story "Ron's Solo Mission". I couldn't help but think of Debra taking a pic of Ron's butt and sending it to Monique through the Net via cell phone. It was fun, much to Ron's chagrin. ;)

You can find Goofmore's K/R art at:

http-colon-slash-slash-www-dot-devaintart-dot-com-slash-view-slash-20745406

Captainkodak1's story can be found here at fanfiction dot net. :)

2) As much as I like to say that the DDR scene was first inspired by CarbonF's fanart, I first came up with the idea of Kim and Ron playing DDR from Nillia's fanart of Inuyasha and Kagome (from animated series _Inuyasha_) playing DDR, given it shows them playing at the arcade, which was what I imagined Kim and Ron doing if they were going to the mall. Only after seeing that art, did my mind thought of CarbonF's art. So I might as well give credit to both for the idea. :)

CarbonF's K/R DDR art can be found at:

http-colon-slash-slash-www-dot-deviantart-dot-com-slash-view-slash-17587939

Nillia's I/K DDR art can be found at:

http-colon-slash-shash-www-dot-deviantart-dot-com-slash-view-slash-12601051

3)Finally, I want to announce that the next story of the TUY series may not be coming out for say a month or two. I say 'may', given I might able to write up one more story before I find a new home to move into. Once I find it, I'll be in the process of moving, so I maybe moving out in October, November or mid-September. I have no idea exactly when, so I want everyone to know in case you don't see the next story out in another month or two.

Thanks to all who has been following my series and your gracious support in it. It's deeply appreciated. :)


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